Getting There
by SophieFrances
Summary: For Lily, it all begins with a dream. For James, well, it's been building for years now. This the story of how a unlikely pair move from the depths of friendship into one of the most renowned love stories of their time. Rated M just in case. I'm terrible at writing descriptions, it'll be (hopefully) better than it sounds.


**DISCLAIMER: I am not, nor shall I ever be, J.K Rowling. If I were, I'd be fabulously rich and talented, and we all know that just isn't true for me.**

**A/N: This whole writing thing is relatively new to me. Please review, any feedback is welcome, positive or negative. More will be posted, I solemnly swear!**

_Chapter One_

_Or_

_Dear Prudence_

* * *

His lips were warm against hers, his hair soft between her fingers. Her eyes fluttered closed as she succumbed to the inevitable, her mind shut down as instinct took control. Distantly, she realised that the situation was, in itself, odd. Was she not currently dating a boy? A very different boy, to be precise. Not the boy she was snogging (quite vehemently, it might be said). Hmm, but the experience was so sweet, and so deliciously heated, that she decided it didn't matter. The nagging voice in the back of her head persisted, however, insisting that this was unrealistic. In fact, she thought suddenly, this might even be a dream.

_Drat_.

The penny dropped, and her eyes snapped open to a sudden, blinding light.

_Well_, Lily mused, _that was unexpected_. Dreaming of _him_ in that way. James Potter was not the boy she should be dreaming about. Not at all.

Perhaps a letter to William was in order, the summer had been long, after all, and she had missed him terribly. For William Hark was her boyfriend, and _not_ James Potter.

_Dearest Will,_

_How are you? I hope your summer has been wonderful. I'm so terribly jealous of your holiday, and I expect a detailed account of Wizarding Egypt when you return._

_I had an odd dream tonight. Nothing too worrying, but it did make me think of you. And of how I miss you dearly, of course. Send my regards to Charlotte, and tell her I so look forward to her joining us at school next year. Here's hoping for a member of the Hark family to join Gryffindor, after all these years!_

_Nothing too interesting happening on the home front. Well, on the Muggle home front, at any rate. As Petunia claims an intense hatred of owls all of a sudden, my delivery of the _Prophet_ has been temporarily suspended. I am as out of touch as I assume you to be (maybe even more so, alas). _

_Well, I suppose that's all the news I have. Write soon, as I miss you terribly. My love to the Hark clan, and to you of course, dear._

_Lily _

_P.S. I've been made Head Girl. Thought you ought to know._

Lily folded the letter and placed it on her nightstand, waiting for her owl Ringo to return from his hunt to send it off. Despite Petunia's newfound dislike of birds as a whole, Lily insisted upon letting Ringo out, a request that Petunia was only too happy to grant if it stopped '_that blasted bird from hooting all night long_'. With a small sigh, Lily's thoughts drifted to her dream, and she flushed as she remembered James' hands on her waist, her legs, the small of her back. Shaking herself, and putting the dream from her mind completely (as it was entirely wrong of her to be dreaming and thinking of boys other than William in that way), Lily decided that sleep was no longer attainable and reached for her phone. Maybe a quick chat with Marlene McKinnon, her long-standing best friend, would serve to raise her spirits and set her mind at ease. Dialling Marlene's number, Lily reflected upon her erratic friend and how she might react upon learning that Lily was dreaming of the delicious Gryffindor Chaser. _She'll probably laugh_, thought Lily glumly, _and suggest some exceedingly dirty reason for this-_

"What the fuck, Lily."

"Well, hello to you too dear." Lily smiled.

"Why the bloody hell are you ringing me at two in the morning. I swear to god, Lil, if this isn't good I will ditch you entirely and forever, and leave you to be friends with Moaning Myrtle." Marlene groaned, her voice slightly muffled by what Lily assumed was her pillow.

"Marlene, I think I need help. I may or may not be having a mental breakdown and have just had a psychotic fit. I could be dying for all we know. I had a dream about Pot-"

"Potter? Really?" The sound of Marlene sitting up in bed rustled against Lily's ear. "Are you kidding Lil? If you are fucking with me I will hang up this phone right now."

"No, sadly, I am not fucking with you Marlene. I think I need professional help. Why on earth would my subconscious consider it acceptable for me to song _James_ _bloody_ _Potter_ in my dreams when I have a perfectly wonderful boyfriend?"

Marlene sighed audibly and Lily could almost hear her eyes roll over the phone.

"Lily. You're a teenage girl and James is a particularly attractive teenage boy. Of course you're dreaming about him. Who hasn't? Now, fuck off and let me sleep or I swear to god I will make your life a living hell tomorrow. If you ring me again tonight I will Apparate into your bedroom and strangle you. See you at the Leaky."

The line went dead. Lily smiled, a little exasperated at her friend, and hung up her phone. She sat on the edge of her bed, staring out the window and up at the moon. Dreaming of James Potter certainly was an oddity. The friendship they had struck up over the past year was fantastic, and Lily found herself enjoying his company more and more. So much so, in fact, that William often appeared a little jealous of the very physical friendship between his girlfriend and the Gryffindor Chaser. She flopped down onto her pillow and smiled at the thought of William. He was a perfect gentleman, and although his excessively polite behaviour often aggravated Lily, and his inability to understand that she and James were just friends was quite ridiculous, she found herself thinking she was incredibly lucky to have a man like William Hark in her life. Lily closed her eyes and concentrated on William, picturing his lovely deep blue eyes and the mop of honey coloured hair that so often fell into his eyes. _Maybe it's just the time we've spent apart_, Lily mused, chewing on her lip, _maybe that's why I dreamt of James in that way_. Putting her dream, and all thoughts of James, from her mind, Lily drifted off to sleep, thinking solely of William Hark and his truly lovely eyes.

* * *

"Dumbledore has finally gone bonkers"

"Yes, Padfoot, mate, you've made that joke. I don't understand it any more than you do."

"Poor Remus."

"Quite."

James sighed. He really didn't understand the Headmaster's decision. After all, Remus was so well suited to the position of Head Boy. James, however, was not.

"Well, Prongs mate, we should celebrate something. If not your appointment to the high and mighty position of Head Dick, then to the end of our days of debauchery. I'll get the Firewhiskey, yeah?" Sirius Black grinned as he lounged comfortably on the Potter's couch, kicking occasionally at the coffee table near his foot.

"You're a prat, Sirius. You know that right? And stop kicking mum's table, she'll crack her nut if she sees you going at another piece of furniture like that."

"Oh your mum loves me, mate. Probably more than she loves you come to think of it. Bloody well right, too, considering her son has just become Head of the Wankers."

"Shove off."

James pulled himself from his the low armchair of his choice and made to re-read his Hogwarts letter for the umpteenth time, stopping on the line detailing Lily as his partner for the year. He wondered how Lily reacted to the news of his appointment, dwelling once again on the friendship they had established over the past year, a friendship that was a path to something more, he was sure. Well, if not for William Hark, that is. The Hufflepuff Keeper who had won Lily's affections was a constant source of annoyance to James, who refused to accept that anyone so dull, with so little personality, could make a girl like Lily Evans happy. He thought of the mere physicality of their friendship, astounded once again at the readiness of Lily to hug and slap and ruffle his hair in such an unexpected way. Shaking himself before he drifted too deep into thoughts of Lily, James turned towards Sirius.

"Right. Firewhiskey. Getting sloshed sounds bloody great right now. Get Moony and Pete over here and we can celebrate the end of my life together?"

"Don't be so dramatic, Prongs." Sirius snorted, "You're not dying"

"Coming from you, the bloke who cries over Witch Weekly-"

"That was _one_ time, and you _promised_ you'd never tell anyone!"

James slapped Sirius on the back and made his way out of the study, stopping at the dark wood-panelled door and looking over his shoulder at the frowning form of Sirius Black.

"Come off it, Black. Let's go find ourselves some Firewhiskey. Doesn't the Leaky Cauldron sound like a godsend?"

"You bet your arse it does. First round's on you, for mentioning The Incident that was never to be mentioned."

"What, you crying over Witch Wee-"

"Two rounds, Prongs!"

James laughed as he sauntered out into the wide entrance hall, heels scuffing against the polished timber flooring. He made his way upstairs and towards his bedroom, where his owl was perched, head under his wing.

"Come on, Vespucci, get up."

Vespucci, James' handsome tawny owl ruffled his feathers, annoyed, and turned his back on James. Sighing, James made his way towards the fireplace, set opposite his bed. Throwing some Floo Powder into the flames, James knelt on the floor and stuck his head into the grate.

"Lupin! LUPIN!"

Remus Lupin's feet appeared after a few minutes, and he knelt before his fireplace, grinning at the sight of James' head in the flames.

"Alright, Prongs, no need to have a conniption, I'm here! What can I do for you?"

"Moony, mate, meet us at the Leaky in 20 minutes. Sirius wants to drown his sorrows over the end of our days of debauchery, or so he calls it. I'd like to contract a serious case of alcohol poisoning and hopefully forget that I was eve appointed as Head Boy."

"Sounds like a plan, I'll get a hold of Pete, yeah?"

"It's a date, Moony m'boy."

James extracted his head from the fireplace and clumsily got up from his position on the floor as Sirius poked his head around the doorframe.

"Hand out of you trousers please, James. I'm coming in." Sirius exclaimed loudly, laughing as James scowled at him, "are we heading over or what? The Firewhiskey is calling, and I'd like to answer."

James nodded his assent and they each grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from the jar on the mantelpiece. Throwing the powder into the flames, Sirius darted in front of James and called his destination, smirking as he disappeared into the Floo Network.

"Git." James muttered, following suit after his best friend disappeared from view.

* * *

**A/N: I know, this is a weird ending to a weird chapter. But, alas, I don't really have time to write any more and let's face it, I'm impatient. Please please please review and maybe I'll have a better chapter for you to read sooner rather than later.**

**Reviews are as good as Golden Gaytimes (if you don't know what they are, you're missing out. Google it.)**


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